Read a full match report of the autumn international game between Ireland and
New Zealand at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin on Sunday Nov 24 2013.

It was gripping, it was draining and it was dramatic. Fittingly on the Sabbath day the All Blacks managed to roll back the stone and rise from the dead to deny Ireland the most famous of victories. Even in this land of tall tales and poetic minds such a finish was beyond the wildest imagination.

Not only did New Zealand manage to preserve their unblemished record with the last long-range move of the match deep into overtime, there was still the little matter of a conversion from wide out from Aaron Cruden needed to nail the victory. He missed it, only for referee Nigel Owens to rule that two Ireland players had charged prematurely.

Cruden did not waste the gilt-edged chance of redemption, sending the ball between the posts. He sank to his knees, as did the whole of Ireland, as if Cruden’s boot had landed in their collective solar plexus so painful was the blow.

For the second day in succession a New Zealand rugby team had managed a resurrection shuffle. Cruel, so cruel.

So many moments stand out, a panorama of the improbable and the commendable. There had been a television match official ruling on a possible forward pass for the decisive try from Ryan Crotty, a passage that started with a penalty to New Zealand 60 metres out with 27 seconds remaining.

There had been a fluffed penalty miss from an easy position from Jonny Sexton with six minutes remaining, a crucial, crucial factor in the eventual outcome, putting Ireland two scores clear. The kick that would have resonated for ever and a day will instead haunt Sexton’s dreams.

“That was game over if it had landed,” Richie McCaw, the All Blacks captain, said. “You could sense a lift in our boys that there was still a chance.”

There was majesty in the sweep of the play, thunder in the tackle, fumbles as well as flourishes, all breathlessly relayed, no one ducking their responsibility. It was all there, played out to a raucous backdrop.

The Aviva Stadium authorities usually send sane men into a rage by blaring out music during lulls in play. There was no need yesterday. If the sport is good enough, the noise levels look after themselves.

For their refusal to bow to the seemingly inevitable, trailing 19-0 with just 18 minutes gone; for their grit and togetherness, for the depth of their resolve and fitness, for their sheer bloody-mindedness, New Zealand deserve their accolades. You do not get lucky this often. You believe and you work for each other until the very end.

The All Blacks enter the record books as the only team in the professional era to go through an entire season without a mark against them. 14 Tests, 14 wins. They will sleep easy in their southern summer.

“We survived a s--- storm,” was the pithy assessment of New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen. “It was not a matter of the All Blacks not turning up. Ireland rattled us. Our heart-monitors were going through the roof. But you saw a special effort from a special All Black team.”

This was as close as anyone has got to them. The Springboks dented the All Blacks, so too England but it is Ireland who managed to take dirty great lumps out of them. The upshot is that the rugby world is in a far better place this morning. Supreme as New Zealand are at the top of the rankings, their aura has frayed. They are beatable. Just not yet.

Ireland’s misery was total. It will not get any easier with the passing of time. They have never beaten New Zealand in 108 years and 28 attempts. They may never get as close again.

“That was an opportunity missed,” Ireland coach Joe Schmidt said. “To be a minute away from history, with the ball in your hands on their 10-metre line, is devastating.”

For long stretches of the first half, you had to do a double-take to figure as to who was in green and who in black. Ireland played with New Zealand edge and accuracy. There was the “bit of madness” pledged by man-of-the-match Sean O’Brien but there was intelligence underpinning the ferocity. Heart and head were in perfect union.

O’Brien led the charge, ably assisted by prop Cian Healy with Paul O’Connell playing a captain’s part.

Ireland were not daunted by the challenge. The fear of humiliation can be quite a spur. From the horrors of their performance against Australia to the splendour of this, Ireland were on their mettle from the kick-off, ripping in to New Zealand. It was a dizzying opening with tries from Conor Murray, Rory Best, who broke a bone in an arm, and a 75-metre breakaway romp from Rob Kearney threatening to tilt planet rugby on its axis.

The New Zealand fightback began with a well-worked try from Julian Savea in the 26th minute. Even so, with a 22-7 lead at half-time, Ireland were set fair. Slowly, though, they were reeled in. Beauden Barrett’s arrival galvanised New Zealand. Ben Franks trundled over in the 65th minute, Sexton missed, Crotty struck and an entire nation headed into the night to drown sorrows.